Thu 7 Jun 2007
I walked into my court reporter’s office for some coffee and saw her in tears standing in the middle of her office, staring into space. She’d been trying to write a thank-you note, she explained. Her daughter won the scholarship, and they’d attended the award ceremony recently. She said the giver of the scholarship, the mother of the deceased girl, deliberately did not attend that award ceremony because she didn’t feel she could hold up emotionally. The presenter talked about how my reporter’s daughter and the deceased girl had been close friends in parochial school, and my reporter’s heart broke listening to this speech. “I was trying to write the note to her [the mother] describing the look of happiness of my child’s face for the scholarship, but I just felt that she must be in so much pain, and I just couldn’t write, I didn’t know how to write it,” my reporter said, eyes misting up again.
Please drive carefully.
Gosh, that must be a hard card to write. I am sure she will think of the perfect words. The card alone is sweet thing to do!
Yes, my reporter is very sweet and thoughtful. I wouldn’t know how to write that card, either. How do you thank someone for generosity that came out of a tragedy, without touching on the tragedy? But there are people who make phone calls and meet and thank family of deceased all the time when the deceased donates an organ that saves someone else’s life. How do you address that? “Your loss has been our gain. Thanks.” ???
Oh that poor woman who lost her child. I love that she set up this scholarship and that the court reporter was so touched.
Lovely.
Yup. Takes tremendous strength, kindness and faith.